


Jamie Tiera Kirk and the Narada incident

by MsLoving



Series: The adventures of Jamie Tiera Kirk [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cheating, Destruction of Vulcan, Female James T. Kirk, Fun at the Academy, Gen, Starfleet Academy, Still bad at tagging, like seriously, narada - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-03-26 05:29:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3838864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsLoving/pseuds/MsLoving
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After having survived Tarsus IV Jamie will have to survive another adventure. Joining Starfleet Academy while raising two daughters is hard work on its own, but having to face a deadly enemy in the Romulan that came from the future, Nero, is an even greater task.<br/>Jamie finds out rather quickly that being in command of a space ship isn't as easy as she might have first thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Leaving for San Francisco

**Author's Note:**

> Finally finished the first chapter. It took me quite some time, I didn't really expect it to take so long, bt my muse decided that she didn't like me and so I had to struggle with the beginning for months. It should go more quickly from now on, I have the story mostly worked out in my head and now I only need to write it.   
> I hope it's as good as the first story. Please enjoy.
> 
>  
> 
> I do not own Star Trek or its characters or the story line of this work.

Jamie Tiera Kirk and the Narada incident

 

 

**_Excerpt from the File of Citizen 0022330475# Jamie Tiera Kirk_ **

 

**Classified!**

_[…]Jamie Tiera Kirk was rescued by the crew of the USS Eagle together with 278 other survivors from the Earth colony on Tarsus IV. Among these 278 survivors were 106 children that universally accepted the girl as their leader. Information on the reasons behind that acceptance did not come from the girl herself. She refused repeatedly to comply with the doctors and talk about her experiences. It took the staff a while to get the required information, especially since the other children at first followed Jamie’s example not to speak. Surprisingly she encouraged the children after a few days to talk about their time on Tarsus IV even though she herself did not follow her own advice. The acquired information amounted to this: After Governor Kodos’ decision to dispose of half the population of Tarsus IV, she, her brother, aunt and uncle left their home to hide from the authorities. After the capture of their aunt, Jamie T. Kirk, her brother George S. Kirk and her uncle Jeff Harlan followed the woman to the main town, where the execution would take place. In a futile attempt to free his wife Jeff lost his life and Christy Harlan was killed along with 3241 others in the mass execution. In the following four weeks Jamie met the children that had hidden themselves in the city. Through her self-sacrificing attitude, her helpfulness and her resolve she gained the respect of said children and thanks to her leadership skills rose to the top of the command chain among them. If the children’s accounts are indeed true, and it seems very likely that they are, then Jamie Kirk saved most of their lives repeatedly and is almost solely responsible for the high amount of children rescued. Unfortunately she lost her brother and two close friends, one of them, Cassandra Brown, to Kodos himself. In an act of self-preservation and righteous anger she killed the Governor with her late brother’s knife. Upon her return to her hideout she had the presence of mind to ensure that the children hide away for the next few days. Therefore they escaped the devastating three day bloodbath in the city._

_Despite refusing to share her story she encouraged the other children to trust the crew and thereby most likely ensured the success the doctors on board of the USS Eagle had. Furthermore she sacrificed a lot of her time to identify people she remembered from the massacre and various encounters in the streets._

_After a correspondence with her mother, in which Winona Kirk made it clear that she cannot look after her daughter at present, it was decided that she would stay on Vulcan for the time being with the great-grandaunt of one of her charges. […]_

**Classified!**

****

 

 

Iowa, Stardate 2255.110

 

Jamie was once again late. Cursing under her breath she hurried through the house and grabbed her clothes.

“Your jacket is on the kitchen counter.” The helpful hint came from the little Vulcan girl sitting on the couch in the living room. “Thanks, darling!” Jamie called, jumping through the door on one foot, trying to put on her shoes. “Jack is going to kill me this time for sure.” She exclaimed, pulling on her jacket, which had indeed been lying on the kitchen counter, and grabbing her hoverbike keys. “I cannot understand why you would assume that. He has never threatened to do so and he does not strike me as someone who would resort to physical violence over tardiness. It is far more likely that he will terminate your contract…” The Vulcan girl didn’t get any further; Jamie had come over laughing softly. “I know, I know. Be good. Do your homework and keep an eye on Madeline for me, won’t you?” the woman said giving the girl a kiss on the forehead and hurrying off. The Vulcan girl, which went by the name of T’Peyra, answered in the affirmative and stared after Jim as the woman hurried out the front door.

One fast bike ride later Jamie hurried through the backdoor into _Jack’s bar_. “Sorry, I’m late”, she called barely over the threshold. A slightly older man with strong arms and an angular face looked over and grinned good-naturedly. One wouldn’t expect it, but despite his rough exterior the balding man was very kind and had a soft spot for Jamie and her girls. “You’re getting better.” He noted. “Last time you were half an hour late and now it’s little over 15 minutes.” He tapped one of the bartenders he was working with on the shoulder and signaled that he would switch with Jamie. Jim quickly changed into her work clothes and hurried behind the bar. The house was full to bursting. Starfleet cadets were making up about half of the customers. Jamie was practiced in the handling of the various beverages they sold at Jack’s bar and quickly got into her working routine.

 

About an hour into her shift the rush calmed somewhat and Jamie got into a few nice conversations with some of her guests. It was already getting rather late, when she spotted a lone girl at the bar and made her way over to her. They talked for some time and Jim enjoyed herself greatly, until the girl’s boyfriend came and the pair got into a fight. Coming to the girl’s aid and voicing her opinion on the boyfriend rather forcefully, Jamie soon found herself in a heated argument that escalated quickly into a fistfight against the boyfriend and his friends. Giving as good as she got Jim was able to stand up to the group of, judging by their clothes, soon-to-be Starfleet cadets, but in the end the men got the better of her and she ended up sprawled on the floor with a split lip, a bleeding nose and a black eye. Luckily for her a Starfleet captain chose that moment to enter the bar and call the guys off.

 

 

Jack pushed a bag of ice into Jamie’s hand. “For your eye.” He said shortly looking at her disapprovingly. She bowed her head. How often had Jack told her not to get in a fight? She didn’t remember, but she had managed to stay away from any brawls for a few months now. Her boss had told her in no uncertain terms what would happen if she got into another one. Jamie sighed. This was just not her day.

 

First getting home late from her last shift at _Jack’s bar_ , then not getting any sleep before the girls needed to go to school, after that falling asleep in her chair while checking the bills and oversleeping, and last getting to work late and even getting fired for being caught up in a pub brawl. She needed this job, if not for herself at least for the girls. Madeline and T’Peyra were counting on her to bring home money; they didn’t have any other family to rely on.

 

Leaning back in her chair she waited for Jack’s final verdict. Her soon-to-be ex-boss looked at her with a piercing gaze.

“I’m sure you remember what I told you the last time you got in a fight at your work place.” He began and Jamie nodded wearily.

“Then you will understand that I can’t let you work here any longer, even if I like you and the girls. It’s bad for my business and I’ve already overlooked your tardiness and the flirting on the job. I’m really sorry, but this is it, Jamie.”

Jim just sighed resignedly and sagged in her chair. Jack patted her on her shoulder.

“Don’t take it so hard. I’ve told you before that you should go elsewhere. You’re a smart kid, Jamie. Even if you’re too late to sign up for this year, maybe next year you could join Starfleet, like your parents. You’ve got the brains for it. You can’t stay the rest of your life in this old country town. I don’t think that either you or your children are truly being challenged by anything here. You have all those nice scores; you’re smarter than any kid around here, Madeline isn’t stupid either, she was top of her class last time we talked about her and that little pointy-eared girl with the straight face, she is so well-read that one might think she has already been to some fancy university or something. With your brains and your parents’ names you might even get a spot at Starfleet Academy now, even though application time is over already.” At the dark look Jim threw him Jack raised his arms.

“Don’t look at me like that. I know you don’t like it, but your parents are who they are, why not make use of it? You need a job and if their names get you there faster…” He smiled and patted her again.

“Look, the guy out there has come by twice already. I told you about him remember? He’s high up in Starfleet isn’t he? If you ask him he might be able to do something for you. He sure seems interested in you. Go on, try! You might get lucky after all.” With that he pulled Jamie out of her chair and pushed her out of the dressing room into the bar. Sure enough, there he was the Starfleet captain come to see her.

 

 

“Jamie Tiera Kirk.” The man was older with wrinkles on his face and dark hair, sitting at one of the tables. Jamie couldn’t quite place the look in his eyes; she thought it might have been intrigued.

“Captain Christopher Pike.” Jim retorted and sat down across from him. She had read up on him a bit after Jack had mentioned him the first time, but she wouldn’t give up any information until she knew what this man was here for. The captain just raised an eyebrow at her words but refrained from inquiring how she knew his name.

“I wouldn’t have expected to find the daughter of George Kirk working at a bar.” He leaned back smirking slightly.

“But then again I wouldn’t have expected her to have two nine-year-old daughters either when she herself is only 22.” Jamie glared at him. So he had read up on her too. Well, he didn’t seem to know any specifics on how she met the two girls, which meant that he hadn’t seen the classified part of her files.

“What I would have expected is you enlisting in Starfleet the moment you got out of school. With your parents being who they are and your test results…” He trailed off staring intently at her.

“Your father was a great man. He saved a lot of lives when he was captain and he only had that position for 12 minutes. I would have thought you might want to surpass him.”

“How, by dying faster while saving more?” She shot back. Captain Pike frowned.

“I have an offer for you. Am I right in assuming that that little stunt earlier got you fired?” Somehow this conversation wasn’t going the way she expected. She felt uncomfortable and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“So what if I am?” She asked sharply.

“I offer you a place at the Starfleet Academy. Of course you would have to move to San Francisco with your daughters. The shuttle leaves tomorrow and you and your girls could be on it.” The captain explained carefully. Jim shook her head immediately.

“Impossible. The girls go to school here and I would have to get them a new place at a different school in too short a time. Then there is the problem of living arrangements. I can’t possibly live in the cadet quarters on campus with my two children. I would have to get an apartment and a job to pay for it.” She stood. “If you don’t have enough applicants then look elsewhere and don’t mess with my life.” Jamie was about to leave when Pike grabbed her arm.

“It can be arranged. I have connections I could use. You’d have a place waiting for you upon arrival and I could work something out for you so you can work at the Academy for one of the professors or if you prefer in one of the bars close to the campus. There is a school for children of Starfleet cadets. Your children could go there.” When he saw the uncertain look on Jamie’s face he got up too. He moved closer to her.

“I can’t imagine that you’re happy with your life as it is and don’t tell me that your girls are. You have to think of them too. I offer you a way to get ahead in life and you seem too cowardly to take the chance.” Jim was gritting her teeth. She knew that she had no hope for work here and he was making an offer she could hardly refuse on a good day.

“Think about it. You have until 0800 tomorrow. Riverside shipyard. I’ll be waiting.” With that he let go of her arm and left the bar. Jamie sat down looking at where he had been sitting. Her mind was racing. She would love to take this chance to finally get away from this place that kept reminding her of her mother and the life she led before Tarsus IV, but it was on such short notice. Finally pulling herself together she got her things and left.

 

 

“Where have you been? Work ended over an hour ago. And what happened to your face?” Madeline was complaining to Jamie the moment she came through the front door. Jim smiled wearily and ruffled her daughter’s hair. She spotted her other daughter in the living room watching her seemingly less interested but the woman knew her girls and T’Peyra was definitely wondering the same thing as her sister.

“I met someone at work.” Jamie’s face twisted into a pained expression. “After I got in a fight and was fired.” Madeline looked stricken; T’Peyra on the other hand nodded seemingly having expected this – which she most likely had.

“He is a Starfleet captain. He offered me a place at Starfleet Academy in San Francisco. We’d have to move though. I didn’t want to decide without you. This is as much about your life as it is about mine. You’d go to school there and we’d live in an apartment and I might even get a better job, but you’d have to leave all your friends behind and we wouldn’t be returning here any time soon if ever.” Jim explained, carefully watching her children for any negative reactions.

T’Peyra didn’t reveal much on her face. She had no problem leaving here since she had no friends anyways and she received additional schoolwork from Vulcan every month no matter where she lived. Madeline was chewing on her lower lip. She did have some friends here but she understood her mother’s wish to do more than just work at a bar. The little girl knew that Jamie wasn’t challenged by her work here in the least and she had even lost the job already. She didn’t really want to leave though. Who knew if the children at her new school would be nice or if she’d be able to catch up with the rest of the class if they were ahead of her? After all it was the middle of the school year.

“Do we have to leave here, mommy?” Maddy finally asked unsurely. She was looking at her mother with big sad eyes. Jamie sighed and hugged her close.

“We don’t have to, my angel, but think about it. You’re a smart kid. I’m sure you won’t have any problems at school and T’Peyra is going to be there too and of course I will be there. You won’t be alone.” Seeing the teary look in Madeline’s eyes Jim quickly added “And just think about the things I could buy you if I get a better job. We could go to the zoo or a public swimming pool and you could buy all those fancy dresses they don’t sell here. San Francisco is huge, there are so many children there, I’m sure that there must be at least one kid that wants to be your friend. Just think about the choices you will have when choosing a school. It’s not like it is here, where you only have one school and no other options. How about we try, hm?” Still looking uncertain Maddy nodded her head.

“We can try.” She said in a small voice. Jim smiled and ruffled her hair.

“Well, since you’re both still up why don’t you pack your bags and tomorrow we will go on an adventure.” Madeline and T’Peyra left, one looking uncertain, the other outwardly unaffected but Jim could see that she wasn’t entirely convinced. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. This would have been easier without a family, but Jim would never give up her kids for anything in the world. After a short pause she moved to her room. She had things to pack.

 

 

 

Early the next morning a small family of three arrived at the Riverside shipyard. Jamie had given her hoverbike the Jack since she couldn’t take it along and in exchange he had picked them up at their home and given them a ride. It wasn’t even half past 7 yet when the three girls hugged the big bar owner goodbye and walked over to the shuttles trailing their luggage behind them. Captain Pike was watching them with interest. When they were close enough to hear him he spoke.

“So, I see you decided to take me up on my offer.” He was wearing a smug smile. Jamie frowned.

“I will have to ask you for that favor you promised me yesterday. We will need that apartment and I’ll need a job.” Pike could see that the woman was most unhappy having to ask for anything especially something this big. He smiled comfortingly.

“The apartment will be waiting for you when you arrive and I will contact you the moment I have the job. It shouldn’t take too long. Any preferences?”

“If you could make sure it won’t interfere with my coursework; that would be all I ask.” Pike nodded still smiling.

“Let’s get your bags and suitcases on the shuttle and then you can go find your seats.”

Depositing the luggage was done quickly and soon Jamie and her daughters found themselves on board of the shuttle headed for San Francisco. Jim put the girls on either side of her with T’Peyra next to a wall to prevent anyone from accidentally touching her and Madeline with an empty seat on her other side.

 

The shuttle was slowly filling up. Cadets were finding seats eyeing the small family with interest and confusion. When it was almost time for the take off when a disturbance at one of the toilettes picked Jamie’s interest. A woman was quarreling with a slightly older, tall man about his seat. It seemed that the man wanted to sit on the toilette during flight which made Jamie snort. In the end the guy had to give in when the woman threatened him and Jim had to stifle a giggle. He was standing right in front of her little group and she didn’t want to offend him (or be a bad example for her girls). When he realized that he would be sitting next to Madeline since it was the only seat left his face changed oddly. Jamie thought it might have been pleasant surprise.

“Well, I’ll be damned. You’re rather young to enlist in Starfleet, don’t you think?” He said somewhat more cheerful than before. Maddy giggled and ducked her head which made Jamie smile an honest smile.

“She is just accompanying me together with her sister.” Jim explained softly with a nod towards T’Peyra, who was lost to the world doing something on her PADD. The man smiled a crooked smile.

“Now I really hope this flight is going to be a calm one. It absolutely would not do to be sick next to such a beautiful little lady.” He said with a quick, worried look to Jamie.

“You don’t like flying and you’re still going to join Starfleet?” Jim asked honestly surprised.

“Yeah, well my ex-wife got the entire planet in the divorce and all I’ve got left are my bones. Have to go somewhere, don’t I?” Jamie liked this man already. He had a gruff voice but seemingly a soft heart.

“Jamie Tiera Kirk.” She said, offering her hand.

“McCoy, Leonard McCoy.” He grabbed her hand firmly and shook it.

“These are Madeline and T’Peyra. I’m sure you can guess which is which.” Jim answered with a mischievous grin. She was already looking forward to a conversation with this person. She really hoped that he wouldn’t get sick.

 

 

At 0800 the shuttle to Starfleet Academy took off and with it Jamie Tiera Kirk with her two daughters.


	2. At the Academy part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure if I should split this chapter and the next one the way I did, but since I won't have much time this weekend I decided to let you have this now and the rest later. This chapter will shed more light on Jamie's past on Vulcan and her life at the Academy. It was not part of the movie but I decided that it might be interesting and it is a way to give you a few quick looks at Jim's life between the prequel and this story. There are more flashbacks to come and we still have a long way before we get to the Kobayashi Maru test. I hope you're looking forward to that as much as I am.
> 
> I hope you anjoy.
> 
>  
> 
> I do not own Star Trek, its characters or the main story line of this story.

_Vulcan, Stardate 2249.237_

_Jamie was poring over a Vulcan dictionary, her lower lip caught between her teeth and a frown etched on her face. She was quickly skimming the pages, turning page after page, stopping every now and then and comparing a word in the book with one on the sheet next to her. It was a rather sunny day and therefore very unusual for her to be sitting inside working._

_A Vulcan woman with the typical black hair and the severe looking eyebrows was sitting across from the girl reading a thick book. The only other people present were two girls, one decidedly more human than the other. The Vulcan girl, who had been named T’Peyra by Jim and who sported the same jet black hair as the Vulcan woman, was busy with a Vulcan children’s game that looked rather complex, especially for something designed for 3-year-olds. The human girl, Madeline, a frail looking strawberry-blond thing with big hazelnut-brown eyes and an angry burn scar on her face, was quietly drawing in a corner, astonishingly quiet for a human child that age, but a bit too loud for the Vulcan equivalent. Her whispered talking was an odd sound in the otherwise silent house._

_After a few minutes Jamie angrily scratched something out on her piece of paper and leaned back in her chair, carding her hands through her hair._

_“This just isn’t working.” She complained. The girls playing on the floor didn’t seem to be disturbed by this proclamation, but the Vulcan woman looked up from her book, expression completely blank. She leaned over taking a look at what Jim had written so far._

_“You have been here 3 years, 3 months and 7 days. Do not be discouraged by minor setbacks. The Vulcan language is not easily learned. You will need to exercise patience if you want to master it.” Jamie scowled but quickly turned her expression unreadable. It took her more effort to not show emotions._

_“T’Vel, I really need to learn this as fast as possible. Not understanding what my teachers at school tell me isn’t doing me any good. And I want to teach T’Peyra her parents’ language. How am I going to do that if can’t even translate one little text without the help of a dictionary?” If Jamie had lived the past three years anywhere but on Vulcan this speech might have been angrily shouted. As it was there was barely a hint of frustration perceivable in her otherwise steady and calm voice. T’Vel raised an eyebrow, but decided not to comment on this show of emotion, however small. She reached across the table, silently asking Jim to hand over the sheet of paper that was causing her so much annoyance. After a quick look she turned a few pages in the dictionary and then pointed at a section saying “You might find what you are looking for there.” The teenage girl gave her a small smile, which T’Vel acknowledged with a nod before returning to her book. Jim returned to her work with renewed enthusiasm. The two girls on the floor never paused in their playing._

San Francisco, Stardate 2256.247

Jamie woke with a groan. Someone had just rudely opened the curtains and the sunlight streaming inside was hurting her eyes. She had been dreaming so nicely about T’Vel and her time on Vulcan.

“Mommy, wake up!” This was the only warning Jim got before a heavy weight settled on her stomach.

“Madeline, no! Get off. My alarm hasn’t yet gone off. I still have a bit of time.” Jim complained to her much too cheerful daughter.

“We would not have woken you if it were not important, mother.” T’Peyra said calmly. Jamie cracked her eyes open slightly and studied her youngest for a moment, then closed her eyes again and sighed audibly.

“What happened that you need me to get up so early?” She asked, mentally very much awake now thought her body was still sluggish.

“It’s uncle Bones, mom. Get up, get up. He’s waiting for you.” Madeline called cheerily, bouncing up and down on the bed. Confusion mixed with the remaining annoyance at being woken so early. Jim quickly grabbed for her PADD, disabling the alarm and catching a glance at the time. 6.30 was rather early even for Jamie’s best friend. Lectures didn’t start until 8.00 and she knew that Bones didn’t need to get to the Academy before 10.00. Undisturbed by the children’s presence and the men at her door the woman pulled of her nightdress, pulled on a pair of trousers and went to the front door still closing her bra and slipping into her shirt. Doctor Leonard McCoy was already dressed in his cadet uniform, but didn’t look anymore awake than Jamie did.

“What brings you here at this ungodly hour, Bones?” Jim greeted. Bones, his usual grouchy self, scowled at her.

“Your daughters didn’t seem to mind the disturbance.” He commented, which made Jim roll her eyes.

“Yeah, well T’Peyra doesn’t need as much sleep as you and me do and Madeline is a morning person. She’s up at the crack of dawn.” She had to stifle a huge yawn.

“What is this about? Don’t you have the morning off?” McCoy looked uncomfortable at that. Thinking that this might take a bit and seeing as the doctor seemed as tired as she did Jamie opened the door wide and stepped aside.

“I’ll make us a cup of coffee and you can tell me all about your need to get up early just to annoy me.” At first he looked undecided but then he stepped past Jamie into the apartment. McCoy knew these rooms as well as Jim and the girls did and he quickly went into the kitchen, where T’Peyra with her Vulcan foresight had already brewed a fresh pot of coffee. After the first sip from his own cup Bones finally seemed to be able to articulate himself properly.

“I got a call this morning. They got a case of Anchilles fever. It’s rare to find someone with a chance of survival seeing as the vaccine is hard to come by. I got a call this morning and they want all of us medicine students to come and watch the proceedings. I don’t know when we’ll be done. I know I was supposed to pick up the girls from school today, but I can’t say with certainty if I’ll make it by then, so I decided to let you know that you should look for some substitute.” Jamie frowned. This was not what she had expected, but better than some of the things her overactive brain had come up with. She shrugged and took another sip from her cup.

“Can’t be helped I guess. I can skip my last lecture I think. It’s nothing I can’t work out on my own at home. I’ll still have to hurry, but I should make it.” She declared after some thought, looking over to her girls to make sure they were listening. Bones frowned at the lax attitude but couldn’t really say anything since he would put his daughter first too if she wasn’t staying with his ex-wife. Sometimes he thought that the Jim’s girls were only so dear to him because he saw his own daughter in them, but then they were rather easy to like. Draining his cup he stood.

“I don’t have much time; I just stopped by to tell you how things stood.” He waved and left. Jamie didn’t bother to see him to the door. Bones and her were really close. The only reason why he didn’t have the key to her apartment was that she hadn’t gotten around to let it be duplicated yet.

Glancing at the clock Jamie saw that it was almost 7 and she decided that she’d forgo more sleep in favor of a long shower.

 

 

Taking out her PADD for the tenth time Jamie checked the time and her schedule. The lecturer for her _Tactical Maneuvers_ lecture had been late but had needed the full one and a half hours and now she was late for her next lecture, the last one for the day. She would skip _Basic Rules of Colonialization_ to be in time to pick up Madeline and T’Peyra from school, but first she needed to get to _Intergalactic Law II_ , which was unfortunately on the other side of the campus. Hurrying over the large square that lay at the center of the Academy grounds she shivered slightly. It was already the beginning of September and she had underestimated how cool days could already get. 10 minutes late she quietly slipped into the auditorium and took a seat at the back. She didn’t like the Law lectures but they had to be taken. She opened the notes they got before every lecture and scrolled to the part the lecturer was currently talking about. Ignoring his voice for now, since she was well aware of the Vulcan Laws that were todays main topic, Jim opened her inbox. She had seen that she had gotten several new mails during _Tactical Maneuvers_.

The first message was from Lesley.

 

**Dear Jamie,**

**Again I have to apologize for my tardiness. It seems that I’m fated to never reply on time to your messages.**

**Kevin’s birthday present finally arrived two months ago. Apparently the ship that brought it had engine troubles in space and didn’t receive any help for months. Can you imagine? It’s been ten years and they still get stranded in space for months on end. I would have thought they’d fix things like that after what happened on… well, let’s not talk about that. Kevin was ecstatic any way. He said he’d join Starfleet like you did when he’s old enough. It’s really cute to see him play with the space ship models and now with the kid size uniform you sent him I can hardly get him to dress in casual clothes. I’ll add a picture for you. I still can’t believe he’s already nine. I’m just glad that he takes after me and my dad and not that man. I don’t know what I’d done if he had looked like him.**

**Harry started reading recently. He still has trouble with ‘a’s and ‘o’s but he’s getting better. I was a bit worried that teaching him reading would be a bit early, but Steve insisted and Harry seems to enjoy it so I’m not saying anything. It is adorable though when he sits on one of those small chairs and reads aloud though no one is there. He also keeps a running commentary on the pictures in the books. I’ll add a video of him. I just know you’ll love it.**

**Cassandra finally got over her chickenpox, I was already getting worried. I consulted three different doctors until Steve told me to just trust them and wait it out. He was right after all, but after what we went through I tend to be overly careful as you well know.**

**I enjoyed the pictures you sent me of Madeline and T’Peyra. Madeline looks a lot like Cassandra used to, doesn’t she? I didn’t see it before, but now it’s really obvious.**

**Please tell T’Peyra that I was amazed at her little game. Kevin is going crazy for it. I would never have imagined that a ten-year-old can program something so detailed, but then again she is a Vulcan and those are a bit smarter than the average human.**

**I recently got a message from Riley. He told me that Thomas, Nick and he are going to be in San Francisco on the anniversary next year and he asked if I’d like to come too. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it what with being on the other end of the Galaxy, but Steve agreed that we’d try to make time. I know you’re still in touch with Stacey, Rick, Ed, Clea and Theo. I thought if we all had time we might get together. Maybe you could let them know? I’ll try to get ahold of some of the others and let you know if they can make it. I told Riley that you were living in San Francisco and might be able to arrange something. He’ll probably write to you. Just tell me to but out if I’m too presumptuous but I thought it the easiest course of action.**

**That’s all from me for now. Love to Maddy and Pey.**

**Yours Lesley**

Jim grinned at the message. This was just like Lesley. She had grown up somewhat, but being pregnant with Kodos’ child hadn’t been easy on her. Jamie was just glad she had found Steve, who had helped her deal with the entire trauma of Tarsus IV. Checking her schedule for the next year she decided that the reunion was worth a try. She took a quick look at the pictures showing a grinning Kevin in the Starfleet uniform she had sent him as a gift but decided to leave the videos for later.

 

The second message was from Riley. Just as Lesley had predicted he wanted her help in arranging the get together for the next year. Seeing that the last message was from Captain Pike Jamie answered Lesley and Riley and wrote a few quick lines to her other friends from Tarsus IV. She made sure to let them know that they should spread the word and try to get as many of the survivors together as possible. When she was done she opened the mail from Pike. They had become good friends and maybe even friends over the last year and Jim was always looking forward to new messages.

 

**Dear Jamie,**

**Saying that your father learnt his lesson about no-win scenarios when he went up against that Romulan ship is rather short sighted of you. To say that he didn’t win isn’t exactly true. He may not have survived, but having saved so many lives when all seemed lost seems like a victory to me, don’t you think? Try discussing it with your little Vulcan girl; she might have a few interesting comments about it; and then let me know what she said. I’m really interested whose side she’ll take.**

**I got a message from one of your professors. He seems to think you hacked into one of his computers and complained to me about it. I think he expected me to set you straight. Did you hack his computer? I hope it wasn’t for anything important; he wouldn’t tell me. If you did it to pass a test I have a bit of advice for you: Cheating isn’t winning. Don’t try to win your bet by cheating; it won’t count and you won’t get any winnings from me. If it wasn’t for a test what did you do it for? I’d really like to know. I hope you didn’t try to circumvent a classified seal. You know that there is a reason that information isn’t available to you.**

**Furthermore I saw that you have been shifting your courses around rather a lot. You’ve also been taking on a lot of extra work. I really hope you can keep up with your studies and your job. I didn’t arrange it for you just so you can run yourself in the ground or slack off. Knowing you though, I bet you’ve been reading ahead anyways and this is all child’s play for you. I knew what I was doing when I got you into Starfleet. Next time I tell you you’d be good at something maybe you’ll listen to me.**

**With regards Captain Christopher Pike**

Jamie had to grin once again at the complaint. She could guess who Pike was referring to. She glanced up to see how far the lecturer was. When she realized that he was still blathering on about Vulcan law she returned to her PADD.

 

**Dear Captain Pike,**

**I’ll make sure to have a lengthy discussion with T’Peyra and send you the full transcript. Lately she hasn’t been too interested in debating semantics, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up for anything earth shattering.**

**I can imagine which professor you are talking about, but just in case I’m wrong I won’t mention names. It wouldn’t do to reveal anything incriminating no one is aware of, now would it? If I am indeed correct though it has neither to do with tests nor with classified information - at least strictly speaking. His information may not have been meant for public consumption, but I just had to know what he had been working on. He had been hinting at it in his lectures but wouldn’t go in detail. My natural curiosity got the better of me and I wormed my way into his servers. I am a bit annoyed that he got wind of it though; I guess I’ll have to work on my stealth. I am aware by the way that cheating isn’t winning and I have no intentions to resort to such low methods. Rest assured I will win this bet fair and square.**

**Concerning my coursework you have been right (of course). It is indeed not as hard as it’s always made out to be to take on a few extra courses on the side. Maybe I’m just used to higher standards; I did live almost six years on Vulcan I’ll have you know. Having a broad field of expertise can’t hurt, can it? Some of the courses are really interesting though not really designed for my subject. Don’t worry yourself though, if it does get too much I will quit before I let either my studies or my work suffer. It wouldn’t do to treat your generous help poorly.**

**Kind regards Jamie T. Kirk**

 

Checking the time on her PADD Jamie sent the email to Pike and then leaned back for the last few minutes of Vulcan Law. When the lecturer finally concluded his talk Jamie wanted nothing more than to rush to her daughters. She would barely make it in time as it was, she shouldn’t loiter about if she could at all help it. When she was almost out the door a voice broke through the noise the cadets were making.

“Cadet Kirk, a moment, please.” It was definitely a woman’s voice and it didn’t sound too happy. Turning around and scanning the crowd of leaving students Jim spotted a female supervisor next to the lecturer. It seemed he had pointed Jamie out to her. Hoping this would be over quickly Jim hurried down the steps.

“Cadet Kirk, it has come to our attention that you have been publicly slandering Starfleet’s protective measures for human colonies. For now we have desisted from fining you or academic punishment. If you continue to openly criticize these measures in the way you have been doing we won’t be so lenient in the future.” She said with a strict no-nonsense voice. Jamie scowled and interrupted.

“If these measures had been properly revised in the last 15 years I wouldn’t have any cause to criticize them.” She groused. The supervisor gave her a stern, disapproving look and continued.

“You are to desist from your way of critique; if you have problems with these measures you are welcome to file a complaint, but you are part of Starfleet and such unprofessional conduct will not be tolerated. Seeing as you have yet to even sit in on the lecture about Starfleet’s safety measures for human colonies it has been decided that you are required to join the lecture next year. It’s in late march and early April, the two weeks before Easter. You will be informed of the exact time on a later date. If you do not attend measures will be taken and between the two of us I can assure you that you won’t like them.” Jamie gritted her teeth. She had been rather stupid to so openly defy Starfleet, but she hated the fact that the events on Tarsus IV had been swept under the rug. Everything had been classified and she had been forbidden from openly sharing her experiences. She had looked into it a bit more and had come across several colonies where something had gone horribly wrong which ended in the death of hundreds, sometimes thousands of people. Every time it had been downplayed or classified and she just couldn’t stand for it.

“Very well, I will join the lecture.” She had to fall back on all the things T’Vel had taught her so she wouldn’t blow up at the supervisor. It wasn’t exactly her fault after all, even if her attitude was rather bad. Then again she had become a troublemaker at the Academy and even gotten away with a lot since Pike had vouched for her and her results spoke for themselves. She really should have taken on more courses in her first year; her schedule had left her with a lot of free time and many chances to get up to no good.

“See that you do.” Came the sharp reply from the supervisor who fixed her with a hard glare before nodding at the lecturer and leaving. Jamie sighed and carded her fingers through her hair before remembering Maddy and T’Peyra and left the auditorium at a run cursing under her breath. She had left her hover bike with Jack and even if she hadn’t she wouldn’t have been able to transport both her girls home so it would not have helped her, but she had no vehicle at all. Hurrying towards the taxi stands just outside the campus she glanced at her watch. She was already late. She sent a quick message to T’Peyra telling her that she was on her way and had been held up. Luckily she got a taxi right away and not too much time later she headed home with her two girls safely in the car with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. Please let me know what you think about my decision to show Jamie's life at the Academy, I'd really appreciate it.


	3. At the Academy part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *creeps slowly into the room*  
> Sorry guys! There's been a lot of upheavel in my life this past years. I had to move switched jobs and I lost my grandma, so there really was little time to write this down.  
> I did actually put it in writing just with pen and paper so that's no help to you, but at least I finally got the chapter done and I'm over halfway through chapter four. So yay!  
> This coming week is my last week of work and after that I'm moving again and then I'm going to university. *celebratory dance*  
> I can't wait to have the weekends for myself again and hopefully that also means more chapters for you.  
> I'll just leave this here now.  
> *puts chapter down, slowly creeps back out*

** Chapter 3 **

 

_Vulcan, Stardate 2251.60_

_Jamie put down her backpack in the hallway. “I am home!” she called. Her voice was calm and collected; there was no trace of her human heritage._

_“Mommy, we are in the kitchen”, replied a high, girlish voice. Jamie followed the sound and entered the comfortable shady room on the west side of the house. The sun had yet to travel around to shine through the window._

_“T’Vel”, she acknowledged the woman sitting at the head of the table. The Vulcan nodded at her without pausing in her work. She was cutting up some vegetables and herbs native to Vulcan. Jim guessed that she would turn them into a nice soup._

_“Jamie, we were just discussing the anniversary of your brother’s death. We wondered if you would like to do something special in his memory as you have done the past four years”, T’Peyra piped up. Jim knew that it was not meant to sound so cold and clinical, but it made a sharp pain shoot through her chest. Tarsus was still a sour subject for her and any mention of it made her uncomfortable at least and hysterical at worst. To have her suffering mentioned so casually made her feel the rift between Vulcan and human customs and propriety especially strongly. Moments like this made her mourn her inability to so completely separate herself from her emotions._

_Maddy was worrying her lip between her teeth. She probably knew that the way her Vulcan sister had brought up the topic had hurt Jamie though there was no visible evidence on her face._

_“We know how much this means to you, so we did not want to make prior engagements without your input.”_

_Jamie brushed her hand comfortingly over Madeline’s head. “I know that you mean well. I had indeed considered marking his passing, his and that of every other person I knew by name including your parents, T’Peyra, and your aunt, Madeline. I intended to include you two and you, T’Vel, if you were willing.”_

_There was a silence for a few moments, in which the three girls waited for the old Vulcan woman to respond. Then, suddenly and very unexpectedly, she broke out into sobs._

_Jamie and Maddy almost instantly teared up too and only through her Vulcan control T’Peyra managed to stop her tears from falling._

_Quickly, to prevent her girls from being exposed to more anguish, Jim shoved them out of the kitchen door and called through sobs “Call for Satok.” She shut the door and rushed back to T’Vel. Carefully she took her foster mother’s hands in her own and concentrated on a sense of calm and contentment whilst trying not to be overwhelmed by T’Vel’s sadness._

_Jamie wasn’t sure how long it took, but finally Satok came into the kitchen and took over from Jim._

_Jamie left to keep herself, Maddy and Pey busy._

_A while later Satok joined the three girls._

_“I have calmed T’Vel. She should not transmit anymore emotions for the time being. I have to inform you that your foster mother’s Bendii syndrome has progressed and is showing no signs of improvement. You have to consider the possibility that she has not much time left. I would advise you to start looking for alternate arrangements for you and your foster siblings. The probability of T’Vel living even two more years is 13.84% and this is already excluding any ailments that might befall her due to her weakened immune system.”_

****

San Francisco, Stardate 2257.89

“This concludes our lecture on Starfleet’s safety measures for human colonies for today. Please read the provided texts describing the improvements made in the last 5 years and outline the 3 major changes that contributed to the successful rescue of the people of Delta Phi III in early 2256 until tomorrow.”

The closing lines of that day’s lecture brought Jamie out of her memory. She had been thinking of T’Vel’s condition and had wondered what her life would have been like if there had been a cure for it or if she had never contracted it in the first place. She quickly scribbled the homework she needed to do on her PADD, glared at the supervisor that had stopped her last year and told her she would need to attend these lectures or face academic consequences and left the auditorium in a hurry. The supervisor had come by every day to check that she really attended from start to finish and didn’t leave after signing her attendance or, better yet, hack into the system and sign in without actually attending. Of course she couldn’t force her to actually listen to the lecturer. Jamie always sat apparently staring at the charts up front and listening intently when she really let her mind wander and thought of anything but human colonies.

Not wasting any time chatting with her fellow cadets Jamie hurried to her car. She had gotten an old hover car that had needed a bit touching up and had repaired it. It had been exhausting and time consuming, but Jim had relished the challenge and the distraction from Starfleet Academy.

Before driving home she dialed T’Peyra to inform her of her arrival, so the girls could get ready.

When she reached home she parked her car, hurried up the stairs to her apartment to change and called her daughters.

“I hope you’re ready. We don’t have much time until we’re expected. Put your shoes and then we’ll be off.” She pulled her cadet uniform off and slipped into jeans and a turtleneck sweater. She put on her boots and grabbed her leather jacket. T’Peyra was already waiting in the hallway and Madeline came running from her room buttoning up her coat.

“Let’s go meet some friends!” Jamie exclaimed happily.

 

She knew that they would be a bit late and after checking in with the waiter she shepherded her girls to the party hall. When the door opened the three girls were assaulted by loud chatter and happy laughter. It took only seconds for someone to spot the newcomers and call out.

“Jamie! Guys, she’s here. Jim has arrived.”

The noise stopped for a moment, then voices shouted out for her, greeting her and her girls.

After waving at everyone and nodding at a few faces Jamie moved to a small sitting area with a few comfortable looking couches. Rick and Ed had taken up all three seats when she came in but had shuffled aside to make space for her. After some hugs and a few exchanged pleasantries Rick piped up “I hear your efforts to reform Starfleet regulations concerning human colonies have been sabotaged.” Jamie grimaced.

“I was going about it a bit wrong. I should have tried a different angle, one they couldn’t have used against me.” Rick clapped her on the back.

“Well, I’m still opposing them and I bet once you have sat through your punishment you’ll return to poking holes in their oh so well thought out rules.” Jim sighed.

“I’ll have to find a new strategy, but I won’t rest until they update their rules.”

There was a lull in conversation and Jamie decided to turn to happier topics.

“So, Rick, I hear you are going to be a lecturer for politics at some university on Cader V. Are you looking forward to it?” Rick perked up immediately, beaming from ear to ear.

“Are you kidding? This is like a dream come true. I always wanted to teach and this gives me the option to combine teaching with opposing Starfleet. It could hardly be better.”

Ed joined in the conversation and even Maddy and Pey added a few comments of their own.

When a Theo and Clea came over the younger girls left and went to the buffet with Clea. Madeline was hoping for some cake while T’Peyra wanted to test the Vulcan dishes the staff had prepared. She had had a long debate with Jim about humans preparing Vulcan dishes just last week.

Theo had returned to Earth with his sister after the events on Tarsus IV and had started working part-time in a bookshop in high school and had gone on to work there full time after finishing school. When he mentioned a new book that had just come in Jamie got excited. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a book.

“I can’t believe I nearly forgot. Ed, would you please sign my copy of “Colony 550”? It would mean the world to me.”

At first Ed looked surprised then he teared up and smiled happily.

“I can’t believe you read it. I thought nobody even knew that I was a writer, well except for Rick of course.”

Theo grinned. “I knew too. I work in a bookstore after all, but I think most of Jamie’s kids know. I’ve been discussing it with the ones I still keep in touch with.”

Ed had to rub his eyes. He took the book from Jamie who was as radiant as the sun it that moment. He pulled out a pen and wrote a dedication on the first page. When Jamie took the book back and read it she started crying too.

 

**Dear Jamie,**

**You are the angel that saved us all. Without you this book would never have been written.**

**We owe you so much and we all love you like a mother. The fact that you think you owe**

**us something just makes us love you even more. Stay the way you are and never regret**

**what you did on colony 550.**

**Your Edwin ‘Ed’ Masters.**

 

Sniffling Jim hugged Ed close and beamed through her tears at the boys sitting around her.

In that moment the door opened and in came a thin woman with sun browned skin and dark brown curls. She had a small boy with blond hair hiding behind her coat. Behind her was a tall man who carried a little girl with big brown eyes and auburn curls on his arm, grabbing a boy with a shock of brown hair by the hand. She looked around for a moment, spotted Jamie and the boys, squealed loudly and ran over to them, hurling herself at the other woman.

“Jamie! I haven’t seen you smile like that in ages. It’s so good to finally see you again. It’s been too long.”

Lesley, the newcomer, properly introduced her husband Steve to her friends and presented her children. Jim detected a slight hitch in her voice when Les introduced Cassandra and Kevin and knew immediately why that had happened. The mention of both Cassandra and Kevin was at the moment a strong reminder of friends lost on Tarsus and Kevin was in addition to that the son of the monster that had turned their happy lives into one month of pure hell.

 

Conversation moved along calmly after that. There was a lot of happy chatter and laughter floating through the room. Most of these people had at some point lost contact or stopped communicating, lacking time or needing some distance from the past. Therefore it was no wonder that there was a lot of catching up to do.

Everyone was surprised at how much Jamie knew about their lives. Nick mentioned with a grin that it almost felt like Jamie was a stalker. She had slapped him on the arm for it while everyone had laughed along with them.

Nick gave Jamie some tips on hacking and the weak spots of the Starfleet systems since he had become an IT specialist and was currently working closely with Starfleet. He only knew of a handful of loopholes but Jamie was already thinking of ways to use this new information.

Thomas Leighton and Kevin Riley struck up a conversation with Jamie when she went to get some finger food.

The doctors had been unable to save his left eye and he was wearing an eyepatch. He had given up on his dream job though Jim didn’t know what that had been. Eventually he had become an empirical research scientist. Tom was content with his line of wok though he frequently bemoaned the fact that this was only his second choice and had been forced to settle for something he wasn’t truly passionate about.

Riley joked that Tom had at least found a job he could live with. He on the other hand had not yet found his calling. He had tried his hand at a few odd jobs but never found the one. Jamie considered him interestedly.

“You know, Riley, from what you’ve told me about what you’re looking for in a job, I’d bet that you’d do well in Starfleet. I know I’m always going on about their failures when it comes to colonialization but there’s more to Starfleet than that. It’s really not all bad and you could be great, I’m sure of that. Why don’t you sign up for next year?” she suggested with a small smile.

Thomas piped up then, encouraging Riley and offering to keep an ear out for an alternative if Starfleet Academy shouldn’t work out either.

 

As the conversations continued, time went on and it was getting rather late. Jamie knew that she needed to get Maddy and Pey home or they wouldn’t be able to get out of bed the next morning. She was back in the sitting area laughing at a stupid joke Rick had made while Ed hugged her, whining about the unfairness of his cousin laughing at his expense. She had wanted to ask if either of the boys had heard back from Stacey since they were rather close still, when the door to the party hall flew open.

No one had expected someone to come this late and so everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to stare. Jamie immediately recognized the man standing in the door and scanning the room with a half confused and half angry glare. She tensed when his gaze fell on her and stayed. She wanted to sink into the cushions and never resurface. She had of course invited Bones to come to her little gathering, it had seemed fair after all the times he had helped her and the girls, but he had turned her down and told her that he didn’t want to be the third wheel.

In the beginning Jim had considered what she would tell her closest friend when he met her family from Tarsus IV, but since he had shown no interest of joining her she had let it drop and now she had no explanation prepared. What did you tell your best friend when you weren’t even allowed to mention the name of the planet you had met these people on let alone what had happened on it? Never before had she wanted so much to be allowed to share her experiences on Tarsus with an outsider.

There had been other instances like this. When Bones had first checked her medical history because of a violent allergic reaction and he had frowned at the blacked out spots that were marked as classified. She had just mumbled an excuse and shrugged it off.

Later he had asked about her past on Vulcan, how she came to be there and what her life had been like in general. She had admitted bits and pieces, but there were parts she wanted to share but wasn’t allowed to and those that she was allowed to share she didn’t want to, for example her time with her uncle. More than once she had considered to say ‘To hell with the consequences’ and tell McCoy despite everything, but being part of Starfleet she feared that she’d end up jobless and homeless and she had a responsibility to her daughters. So she had bitten her tongue and kept it all to herself.

While Jim still fretted in her seat, Ed was worried for an entirely different reason. He thought that the man in the door was Jamie’s boyfriend and he was suddenly very aware of the positions he was in. Sweat was beading on his brow. Hopefully he could explain before he got beaten up. He quickly snatched his arms from around Jim and put some distance between himself and Jamie. He plastered a strained smile on his face that looked more like a grimace than anything else.

Lesley had guessed who this person was, but couldn’t for the life of her understand why the doctor seemed so enraged. Had Jamie done something that would warrant this reaction? She glanced worriedly between the two Starfleet cadets.

Nobody in the room could have guessed why Leonard McCoy was so angry, not even Jamie, Madeline or T’Peyra. He had decided to join Jamie’s little party in the spur of the moment when his friends from the medical department had ditched him for a mild case of the Hutzel infection, but he had opted to skip himself since he had been up at the crack of dawn and had seen a few cases of it before anyways.

He had told Jamie that he wouldn’t be coming, but she had told him that he could come even on short notice or without checking with her beforehand. He thought that it might have been better to send her a short message via PADD after all. He’d nearly gotten a heart attack when he had told the waiter his name, but he’d get to the bottom of this.

Storming over to his friend he glowered at her.

“Do you think this is funny? I nearly keeled over and died when the waiter told me that my wife was already waiting in the party hall. What were you thinking?”

Jamie blinked at him uncomprehending. She was completely blindsided by these questions. Wife? What was going on? Then it clicked and she burst out laughing.

“Uncle Bones!” Maddy’s excited shout came from further into the room and a small child with strawberry-blond curls dashed past the staring adults to throw herself at the glowering man. His gaze softened for a moment. Then it fixed back on the still laughing Jim and turned dark again.

“Sorry, Bones” Jamie apologized, wiping her eyes and sitting up straight.

“The waiter must have misunderstood. I booked this venue under your name for various reasons, among others I didn’t want all those pesky comments about my father being a hero and all that rot. I intended to pretend being your cousin or something, but since you didn’t want to come I didn’t bother telling the waiter so he must have guessed that you are my husband. Man, I’m so sorry. You must have thought I invited your ex to get you back together or something.”

The doctor sighed and stopped glaring. “That’s almost exactly what I thought. You’re going to turn me grey prematurely” he complained and dropped down next to Jim. She handed him her drink and pulled Maddy on her lap.

“Bones, these are all friends of mine. We came together to remember lost friends. Everyone else, this is Leonard McCoy also known as Bones, my best friend and family physician. Don’t mind his bark, it’s worse than his bite” she introduced McCoy.

“Only because you exploit my medical degree” he mumbled. Everyone shared a short laugh and then went back to talking among one another.

Surprisingly Bones didn’t ask where she met this many people, maybe he felt Jim’s discomfort with the situation or he really didn’t care.

 

Half an hour later Jamie felt that she really couldn’t stay any longer. It was nearing midnight and even though T’Peyra would be fine with the little amount of sleep she’d get, Maddy would not. Excusing herself and agreeing on a time for the next day she collected her girls and returned to Bones. She offered to drop him off near the campus so he wouldn’t have to return home, but he had just started a discussion with Thomas on… something, Jamie didn’t listen long enough to know for sure. So she waved everyone good bye and left.

 

 

On Tuesday after her lecture on human colonies Jamie met up with her friends again but left Maddy and T’Peyra home. She wouldn’t be gone for very long and Madeline had been uncomfortable with so many strangers. She had tried to brush her hair in front of her face to hide her burn scar. Pey had been rather bored because nearly none of the people there had taken her seriously and talked about stimulating topics with her. Jamie promised to be home early to make dinner.

That day Stacey joined the group, having been held up with work before. She had become an activist for humanitarian aid and a colleague of hers had asked for her help shortly before she intended to leave. Nobody had minded and they had talked about their plans to celebrate the anniversary of the massacre. Of course the date itself had passed already and they had all celebrated it in their own way but they wanted to do something together, especially since there was no memorial for the deceased and most of the graves for their family members were empty. Being forbidden to speak to outsiders about it also posed a huge problem for many.  They could not go out and share their thoughts with a stranger or even a friend that hadn’t been involved.

In the end they decided to prepare a small altar with pictures and memorabilia of their lost friends and family members. It would have to be removed at the end of the week, but it was a place they could all mourn at.

 

The week was more stressful than Jamie would have liked. With the lecture on safety measures for human colonies that was practically just laughing in her face at how little the deaths on Tarsus IV mattered to the admiralty and the get together with the surviving children her nerves were stretched thin. Her daughters and Bones noticed her declining mood and though only Maddy and Pey knew the real reason Bones tried to lift her spirits with mediocre results.

 

At the end of her forced two week lecture Jamie wanted to celebrate, but she felt kind of sad to see most of her Tarsus friends leave. The reason for their meeting may have weighed on her mind but overall she liked to have them here. They understood her in ways nobody else could. They had shared her pain and had experienced similar fates to hers. She was happy though to hear that Kevin Riley would stay to enlist in Starfleet and Lesley and Steve Michals had booked a long stay in a hotel to prolong their visit.

 

The Easter Holidays were coming up and Jamie was looking forward to a small group of friends staying over to spend the time together without the massacre on their minds every moment.

She was also excited for the weeks following Easter. She would finally get to take the Kobayashi Maru test and she was sure that she had trained hard enough, learned enough different strategies and tactics and had mastered the Vulcan control over emotions well enough to be the first to actually beat it. She would spend the week revising. She was determined to go above and beyond and win the bet against Pike and her own ego. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you found any misspelled words, please let me know. I'll put them to rights :)  
> I hope you liked it and it wasn't superboring or anything.   
> More to come soon, and we're finally entering charted territory :P The Kobayashi Maru is coming up.


	4. Passing the Kobayashi Maru test

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it! It's finished and it hasn't been months and months :D I'm pretty tired though, it is rather late. I was on a roll though and I couldn't stop. If the end is a bit confusing or something it'll probably be fixed by tomorrow evening. I'll read it over once my brain is back in full, I still wanted to post it though *pouts*  
> Enjoy!

_Vulcan, Stardate 2251.296_

_Jamie was holding Maddy in her lap while telling her and T’Peyra about Earth. She rarely did so and any story she told was therefore precious to the girls. Madeline had curled up into a ball and was holding onto Jim’s Vulcan dress. Pey sat across from her foster sister fiddling with a Kal-toh set._

_“There are green meadows with all kinds of flowers. Sometimes you can see butterflies fluttering around and when it’s really quiet and the flowers are in bloom you can hear bees buzzing, collecting honey.”_

_“What are bees, mommy?” Maddy whispered._

_“They’re six-legged insects with yellow and black stripes and wings. They live in colonies with one queen and hundreds of workers. Bees are extremely important for the Terran ecosystem. Without bees many plants wouldn’t get pollinated and there would be no fruits for humans to eat and several thousands of species of plants would die out and with them all of humanity. It nearly happened back in the 21 st century. There were places were bees could no longer live and people had to pollinate the trees by hand. Of course it was not as efficient as the bees and it would never have been possible on a global scale” Jim calmly explained. T’Peyra nodded. She had read about Terran insects and of course the bee had come up. Maddy thought a moment longer about this then nodded too._

_“It seems they are essential to the ego… eco-sys-tem on Earth” she affirmed, slightly stumbling over the foreign word. Having grown up with two Vulcans and a prodigy like Jamie she knew many more words than other human children her age and she could pronounce most of them properly._

_“That is correct. Humans even domesticated wild bees to some degree to harvest the honey they produce. Some people find the soft buzzing of bees to be rather soothing.”_

_The clearing of a throat brought the focus of the three girls from Jamie’s story to the man standing in the doorway._

_“Forgive the interruption. I wished to inform you of T’Vel’s passing.”_

_Jamie felt such a huge shock at these words that she couldn’t respond immediately. She had to take her emotions and shove them behind every wall she had built in her mind. She would follow the Vulcan example and revisit her feelings when she was alone and didn’t need to be strong for her little girls. Since Maddy was barely six years old she was hopeful that she would not understand what had happened. T’Peyra probably did understand what this meant, but she would be able to work through it with meditation. Jamie would of course help her make sense of it all, but for now she had to cover all the legal aspects. Before sending the Vulcan doctor away and sorting through all her options she had to ask one question though._

_“What was the cause of death in the end?”_

_The doctor, Sasak, bowed his head._

_“From my previous examinations, Satok’s assessment of her progressing Bendii syndrome and what little tests I was able to do here I would conclude that with a likelihood of 89.64% T’Vel died of a severe case of Choricytosis. We were unable to procure strobolin in time and could not stop the deterioration of her health. The Bendii syndrome caused the weakening of T’Vel’s immune system and in turn presented a very easy target for any ailments to take hold. Should you wish an exact analysis of the cause of death, I will need to have her examined in a medical facility.”_

_Jamie shook her head mutely._

_“I thank you for your aid with our mother’s illness. A thorough examination is of no importance to me. Should her body improve the understanding of Choriocytosis or the Bendii syndrome, you may take it with you. I trust that you are the Keeper of her Katra?”_

_Sasak bowed his head in confirmation._

_“I will carry her Katra to the Hall of Ancient Thought on Mount Selaya. There she will live on.”_

_Jamie nodded relieved. She would not have been able to carry T’Vel’s Katra due to her human physiology and T’Peyra was still too young to be burdened with the weight of someone else’s mind. It was a relief that T’Vel had been well enough to transfer her Katra._

_“I will send someone for her body. It is only logical that we should gather as much information from it as possible. It is very unusual for a human to offer this. It is a very laudable act.”_

_Jamie bowed her head in acknowledgement. The Vulcan doctor went to leave and Jim followed to show him out. At the front door he paused._

_“Though you do not grieve quite like we Vulcans do you still do grieve. It may not offer as much comfort to you as a human ceremony would have, but know that I grieve with thee” he said solemnly._

_It took every ounce of control she had to stay stoic and emotionless._

_“I appreciate it all the same and Madeline and especially T’Peyra are going to appreciate it too.”_

_Sasak raised his hand in the Vulcan Ta’al and Jamie mirrored him._

_“Live long and prosper, Sasak” she said._

_“Live long and prosper, Jamie Tiera Kirk, and may we meet again under better circumstances.”_

San Francisco, Stardate 2257.296

Jamie was very quiet this morning. Maddy looked at her worriedly, but T’Peyra stepped forward mutely shaking her head. She whispered something to her sister and the human girl left with a worried glance at her mother.

“Mother, you have been very emotional today. It has not been so the past few years on the anniversary of her death. What makes today so different?” she inquired softly.

At first it seemed like she wasn’t going to answer with her set mouth and the hard eyes but then Jamie let out a long sigh and looked at her daughter smiling sadly.

“It is not the anniversary of her death by itself. It just seems that this year there are a lot of circumstances weighing on my mind on this day. You remember that I failed the Kobayashi Maru test in April. I have decided to try again. I have been spending much of my free time learning the most obscure maneuvers and memorizing all protocols by heart, studying similar situations and going through various ways that the test might change depending on my actions. There has to be a solution to this. I decided to retake the test and it’s set for today.”

T’Peyra tilted her head.

“I had been wondering what you were doing so late at night. I was certain that it could not have been for your ongoing courses. It is good to know that it was nothing I needed to worry about. I had expected, rightly so I hope, that you would tell us if it was something important. I would not wish to find out that you had been sick these past few months and could now no longer hide it from us and hence were now considering how to best tell us.”

Jamie frowned and brushed the fringe out of T’Peyra’s eyes. Sometimes she wondered if she had done the girl a disservice by taking her to Earth. She had lost some of her Vulcan coldness and was more in touch with her emotions, which would not have been a problem if it had not meant that she was now an outcast in both worlds. She knew that Pey had trouble with her peers because they felt threatened by her smarts or hated that she was so very young when they were double her age or simply because she was a Vulcan. Vulcans might take offence at who raised her or how emotional she seemed in comparison.  Any human would still consider her cold and unfeeling while Vulcans would call her unrestrained and weak.

Maddy had needed this though. She had softened on Earth and had lost her very Vulcan-like rigidity. She expressed her emotions more readily and had started using simple terms instead of the technical terms the Vulcans liked to use. She was still very introverted though Jamie didn’t know if this was a result of her time on Vulcan or a character trait she would have developed anywhere. The human girl had her own demons though. Her peers didn’t need to antagonize her to make her insecure. Maddy hated her scar; it made her unsure of herself and very self-conscious.

The fact that T’Peyra worried so much and feared the possibility of Jamie’s premature passing brought these thoughts back to the center of Jim’s thoughts; they were never gone, always at the back of her mind as niggling worries.

“I would tell you at once if I found out something like that. I would never keep anything life-altering from you or Maddy.”

Jamie startled when Pey’s hand closed around her wrist and she nearly gasped when she saw the pleading in her daughter’s eyes.

“Promise me that you will never keep anything important from me. Promise me!”

Her heart clenching she went on her knees in front of her small Vulcan girl. She was only 11 years old, but she was already so very mature. Resting her hands on T’Peyra’s shoulders she held the dark eyes in front of her.

“I promise on everything that I am and everything I have that I will tell you everything of import. You are the most precious being in my life; you and Maddy and I swear to never lie to you where it counts.”

For a few moments the little Vulcan stared unblinkingly in her eyes, searching for any lies, any hidden reservations, but when she found none she nodded. Taking a step back T’Peyra slipped from under Jamie’s hands.

“You will do fine mother. If the test is winnable then I could not imagine someone better suited to win it” she assured her mother sincerely and left to look for Madeline.

 

Leaving her hover car in the parking lot at the edge of campus Jamie got ready to face the Kobayashi Maru a second time. Bones must have seen her from across the square because he jogged to reach her side, leaning in close to her.

“I can’t believe you are going to retake that damn test. Isn’t one time enough?” he grouched and Jamie couldn’t stop the smile from creeping onto her face.

“Oh Bones-y, you should know better. I’m not going to settle for anything but top-marks in everything.”

“Don’t!” he hissed at her and Jamie glanced at him with a smirk. “Don’t call me that. I hate it almost as much as the other one.”

“What other one? Do you mean Lenny?” The answering growl made Jim laugh. They were quiet for a few moments, passing a group of cadets, which Jamie winked at, eliciting a few giggles from the girls and a few whistles from the guys.

“I can’t believe how calm you always are. You seem to be worried by nothing. Tests, exams, reprimands, flirting with anything with two legs, nothing gets you even a bit nervous.”

Jamie smiled slightly at that. If Bones only knew how much she really worried every day.

“It’s a perk of being awesome” she responded cockily instead.

 

“We are receiving a distress signal from the U.S.S. Kobayashi Maru. The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them, Captain” a female communications officer said in a syrupy voice. She winked at Jamie, but Jim didn’t respond. She was very tempted to wink back or just smirk at her, but this was too important to get distracted before it had even started.

“Set course for the stranded ship, scan the surrounding area for enemy ships and don’t forget transmissions in Klingon. We’re entering neutral territory, so keep your eyes peeled” she ordered coolly.

“Klingon vessels have entered neutral space. They have opened fire on us. Their shields are up” Bones informed her.

“Evasive maneuver, red alert, ready the photon torpedoes, fire the phasers” Jim quickly replied. The cadet at the helm responded quickly, but a few shots still hit.

“We’re being hit. Shields at 78 percent.”

“Three more Klingon warbirds decloaking, ma’am.”

Jamie chewed on her bottom lip. What could she do? She had learned day in day out, there had to be something.

“Try to hail the Kobayashi Maru, see if they can get their transporters running again” she called over the noise.

“More shots incoming, shields at 60 percent. They’ve got us surrounded, ma’am.  There’s nowhere to escape.”

“The Kobayashi Maru can’t get their transporters running, captain.”

Another shot hit the ship and a console went up in a shower of sparks. The cadet at the helm tried to shield his face but was thrown backwards and fell to the floor unconscious.

“Get a medical team in here” Jamie shouted while jumping up and taking the helmsman’s place.

“Transporter bay, try to lock on the crew of the Kobayashi Maru and beam up everyone as soon as we’re in range.”

Jamie let her fingers fly across the controls, maneuvering the ship to dip down and try to get under the Klingon ships.

“Let’s dance” she said lowly. Bones glanced over to tell her that she could not possibly win this but the determination in Jim’s eyes made him swallow his comment, turn back around and resume his work.

Another hit incapacitated the communications officer that had at the beginning flirted with Jamie. The medical team that had just reached the bridge immediately split up to check on the injured.

“Tell the Kobayashi Maru that we’re on our way. We’re not going to give up. We have a duty to these people and I for one am not going to let a few Klingons get in my way” Jamie said to the new communications officer, but also loud enough to boost the morale of the rest of the crew.

“The Warbird in the center just lost its shields” came the triumphant voice of a female cadet.

“Fire the photon torpedoes. Send them home!” Jamie called back.

When the Klingon ship went up in flames one of the younger cadets cheered, but Jamie rebuked her immediately. “Stay focused, cadet! There are six more warbirds out there and we’re down to 10 percent of our shields.” She had barely spoken the words when more hits connected and the shields dropped down to zero. The ship shook and damage reports were flooding in.

“Hull breaches on decks 31 to 34, atmospheric stabilization lost on decks 32 and 33.”

“Life support is still working.”

Jamie gritted her teeth. This was going downhill fast.

“Engaging evasive maneuver delta 5. Let’s try to gain some time”, Jamie shouted, already typing in the required commands to rock the ship from port to starboard.

A few shots zipped past, but the next few connected, the Klingons having adjusted to the altered movements of the Starship. The hits made the entire ship rock alarmingly and the entire room went up in sparks as every last console went dark. The screen up front died and the crew was thrown around, some impacting with their work stations, others simply flying from their chairs.

The moment the cries of pain or surprise died the rocking stopped and it was utterly silent. Jim raised her fist to strike the console in front of her, but stopped herself by shoving the anger behind her mental walls. This was not the time to let her emotions reign free. She put her hand down, palm open. “I lost again, huh?” The words were quiet and resigned. In the next moment the lights turned back on and the supposedly unconscious crewmembers got up. Some were rubbing their sides or their heads. Apparently they had really hit something. Jamie got up and turned to the crew.

“You did well, everyone. I could not have asked for a better team. Sorry, that we didn’t make it in the end.” She smiled apologetically. The cadets nodded.

“Maybe next time someone will make it”, Jim joked on her way out. When she was just passing the exit a cadet stopped her. It was the one that she had rebuked for cheering ahead of time.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten distracted like that”, he said downtrodden. Jamie clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault that this mission failed. The chances were very slim from the start. Just don’t make a habit of it. One day it may well be the deciding factor. Not today though.” She smiled encouragingly and continued her exit.

She made a quick stop in the restroom, splashing her face with some water. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was hiding from Bones. He was sure to come after her and she hoped that he’d just assume that she had made a quick escape and not wait around for her. She eyed herself in the mirror, grimacing at her pale face.

“You shouldn’t take this too hard. I’d have been surprised if you had won. Nobody has ever managed to get through this ‘alive’ you know.”

Jamie turned to the voice. It was the female communications officer that had flirted with her. She was leaning in the doorway, her arms crossed and a smile on her lips.

“There has to be a way”, she denied.  The woman just shrugged and stepped further into the room, tossing her shoulder length black hair behind her.

“I don’t really care either way. I just thought you might need some cheering up. How about a nice evening out? We could start with drinks and maybe do something more later on.” The suggestive tone was back and the smile had turned positively leering. “I bet I could make you forget all about this stupid test. I think it’s rubbish anyways. It wasn’t meant to be won.”

Jamie stared at her for a moment then grinned slightly.

“You might be right. How about I invite you to a nice drink in the “Sleeping Horta”? Let’s say at 1900?”

The cadet grinned and nodded. I’ll see you then.” She breathed a kiss on Jim’s cheek and left.

Deciding that she had waited long enough she glanced one more time at herself in the mirror then left.

 

On her way home she went over the Kobayashi Maru again. Had there been something she could have done better? She cast her mind back but couldn’t think of any way to win this. Suddenly the cadet’s words came back to her mind. ‘It wasn’t meant to be won.’ Another memory followed that one. This time it was T’Peyra. ‘If the test is winnable then I could not imagine someone better suited to win it.’ What if the test was designed to be unwinnable? What if nobody was supposed to ever win? That thought made Jamie angry more than anything had in a long time. How could they design something unwinnable? What was the purpose of something like that? You couldn’t find out how apt someone was at something if you made it unsolvable. Hot anger flooded through Jamie’s veins and she narrowed her eyes. Parking her car she quickly jumped out, locked it and hurried to her flat. She closed the door with more force than was necessary and went straight to her room. Closing the door she stood still for a moment and finally let it all boil over. A scream tore from her throat and she grabbed the closest thing, which happened to be a model of a Starship she had built years ago. She hurled it across the room and let it shatter against the wall. Feeling no better she grabbed another Starship model and threw it too. A pencil case flew through the air followed by Jim’s hairbrush and finally a vase. The loud noise the vase made when it shattered finally stopped Jamie in her rampage. She breathed heavily. The anger had given way for despair. How could they design something like this? All she ever wanted was to be given a chance. She didn’t believe in no-win scenarios any longer and now she was faced with one. But this was man made. This was not like the real world. Apparently someone very pessimistic had decided to create a test to torture the cadets in the command track of the Academy. The anger returning Jamie ground her teeth. Oh she would make them regret. If this test was unwinnable then she would just make it winnable.

Having decided on a course of action Jamie looked around the room. She should probably clean up before her girls returned home.

 

“Hello there.” The cadet sat down next to Jamie.

“Hello, Chelsea Hannigan”, Jamie greeted casually. She had checked the cadet out when she had realized that she didn’t so much as know her name. It hadn’t been too hard. A quick, not so legal look through the files of her test that morning and she knew her name and with that she just had to get to her file to find out more, which was done also not entirely legally.

“You read up on me”, the cadet remarked, not at all fazed by Jamie’s snooping.

They got to talking, but avoided the Kobayashi Maru altogether. About 10 o’clock in the evening an Orion woman joined them, which Chelsea introduced as a very good friend by the name of Gaila. Not long after they decided to move elsewhere.

 

Quietly putting on her trousers and slipping into her shirt Jamie walked through Chelsea’s apartment. She picked up her boots from the other side of the bed and carefully sneaked towards the door leading to the hallway.

“Already leaving?” Jim startled at the question. It wasn’t loud but very unexpected. Gaila was leaning on one arm looking up at her and smiling softly. “We wouldn’t mind if you stayed, you know.”

“I don’t doubt it. I can’t stay though. I promised my girls that I’d be home by 3 at the latest. Pey will definitely be waiting and if I’m not back by 3 on the dot, she’ll wake her sister and call Bones and then there’ll be hell to pay.” Jamie smiled slightly imagining Bone’s tirade if this happened.

“I get it. I’ll tell Chels in the morning. Don’t you worry your pretty head about her. You’ll call though, right?” Jim nodded with another soft smile, waved and then hurried out as quickly as she could while making barely any sound.

 

T’Peyra was staring at her. Jamie knew that T’Peyra was staring, but she was deliberately ignoring it. Maddy was blissfully unaware of the tense situation around her. Eventually the Vulcan girl decided that staring wasn’t going to cut it.

“Mother, you are avoiding my gaze.”

“It is entirely coincidental, I assure you”, Jim responded glancing her daughter’s way and then away again.

“You are planning something and are aware that I will disapprove.” It was stated as a fact not as a question.

“You disapprove of many of my actions and it has never bothered me”, she retorted evasively.

“This is different. You think that I might not forgive you or you worry that I might take action to prevent you from acting at all.”

Madeline had finally picked up on the weird atmosphere and glanced from her sister to her mother and back.

“Does this have to do with the Kobayashi Maru?”, she asked innocently. Jamie glared at her human daughter, but T’Peyra saw it and put the rest together with her huge Vulcan brain.

“You intend to cheat on the test. I do not know how, but you are sure that you will succeed.”

Jamie sighed. “Darling, I’m not going to do anything reckless.” Pey was not happy with that answer.

“Any action you take to alter the outcome of the test beyond the parameters set by the examiners will be seen as a violation of the ethical code of conduct pursuant to regulation 17.43 of the Starfleet code, the punishment for which is immediate expulsion from Starfleet Academy, meaning an end to your career before it has started.”

Maddy sucked in a breath.

“Mom, do you really…”

“Don’t worry sweetie. I know what I’m doing.” Jamie brushed her hand through the strawberry-blond curls of her daughter.

“Mother…”

“Please, Pey. Trust me.” Her mother’s voice was so insistent that T’Peyra sat back down.

“I have warned you. Do not complain to me if this ends as I predicted.”

“I won’t, darling.” Jamie kissed her Vulcan girl on the head, keeping the contact to a minimum as not to make her experience the turbulent emotions that were swirling just beneath her skin. Even if she didn’t tell her children, she was well aware what might follow at the end of the day. She didn’t doubt that Pike wouldn’t help her to get out of it if things went badly.

“I’ll drive you to school. Get your bags.”

 

Gaila was waving at her from across the campus.

“Jamie! I was hoping I’d see you before you went into the test. I wanted to give you a good luck kiss.” Jamie smiled at her friend. They had been together on and off, sometimes with Chelsea and sometimes without. They never actually agreed on dating, but Jamie preferred Gaila to some of the other cadets. She was not as clingy as some of the others, though Jim worried that the Orion woman might have developed more feelings for her than she had intended. She didn’t want to hurt the other, but a relationship was out of the question for Jamie, at least for now. She was already happy that she had overcome her fear of intimate relations of any kind. There had been a time when she had refused any bodily contact with others due to her experiences on Tarsus and further strengthened by her almost touch-free time on Vulcan. The first few more intimate relations had been solely with girls. It had taken quite some time to get used to intimacy with boys – or men as it were. Despite all that she had developed a kind of reputation at Starfleet Academy, most likely helped along by her charismatic, flirty attitude and her two daughters.

“Thank you, Gaila.” Jamie received the kiss with grace and brushed softly across the Orion’s cheek with her hand. “I’ll need all the luck I can get.”

She had managed to install a subroutine in the programming of the Kobayashi Maru, but she hoped that it had been put in there securely enough to not be detected in advance. She just needed to enter a specific combination of commands and the program would activate. The commands themselves were not unusual for the kind of situation the Kobayashi Maru established, the combination however was.

“I’ll tell you how it went later.” Jamie waved and hurried off.

A cadet moved towards her with a swift pace.

“You are so going down, Kirk”, she growled. The cadet had black hair, dark skin and went by the name of Uhura.

“Now, now. I don’t see why you need to be so negative.”

“You met with Gaila again yesterday. I told you to stay away. She got herself a boyfriend now; I know she told you, too. He hasn’t stopped bothering me. You don’t need to come by anymore. Just go and shag Chelsea. At least she’s single and she can’t stop going on and on about your abilities in bed. They’re the only skills I’ve heard praised about you. Well, those and your ‘charm’. Can’t say I agree though. I find your manners very lacking”, she railed.

“Please, Uhura. My manners are above reproach. You just don’t like that I have time for a private life and still manage to keep my grades up”, Jamie soothed kindly.

“This has nothing to do with it. I just wish you would stop giving me trouble. Oh and that includes flirting with me. I have a boyfriend, you know? Not everyone wants to spread their legs for the entire Academy. Some of us prefer to concentrate on one individual.” Jamie stopped herself from flinching. She didn’t like that Uhura implied that she was good for nothing but fucking. She knew that it wasn’t true, but it still hurt and it dragged up bad memories. She had never found someone she wanted to stay with, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t enjoy her life, did it?

“I’ll enjoy seeing you lose spectacularly”, Uhura hissed before veering off and leaving for the cafeteria.

The next to approach her was Bones.

“You’re completely mental, you know that?”, he grumbled in greeting.

“A good day to you too, Bones. It’s the big day today. Aren’t you excited?”

“I still think you’re crazy for doing this a third time. Jim, this test isn’t meant to be won.” Bones glared at her.

“I have a good feeling about this time. It’ll work out, you’ll see.” Jamie grinned at her friend and patted him on the shoulder. McCoy just glared more fiercely.

“If you do something stupid, I’ll wash your head.” Jim laughed happily. Talking with Bones always made her relax in a way only Maddy and Pey could make her relax.

“You’ll have to get in line. T’Peyra has already called first dibs years ago.”

 

“We are receiving a distress signal from the U.S.S. Kobayashi Maru. The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them.” Uhura sounded very annoyed and her glare told the rest of the story. Jamie didn’t let herself be fazed.

She had the irrational urge to correct her and demand to be called ‘Captain’, but she squashed it down. It wouldn’t do to seem overly suspicious.

“Set course and put the shields up. Try to com the Kobayashi Maru and ask for a status update. Yellow alert”, she commanded calmly.

 

“Klingon vessels have entered the Neutral Zone. And they are firing upon us”, Bones said from her other side and Jamie smiled softly. Good old Bones. She had managed to convince him to join her for the third time.

“Ready the photon torpedoes, arm the phasers, but wait for my signal.”

Uhura and Bones glanced at her doubtfully. This didn’t seem like a very wise choice.

 

“Three more warbirds decloaking”, Bones updated. “They are firing.” This was the moment she had waited for. Typing in her commands she waited for the screen to flicker. She hadn’t entirely expected all the screens to turn black for a moment, but it had been a possibility she had considered. She had hoped that her program would take over with only a small glitch, but she supposed that the two programs running at the same time and giving contrary commands had overloaded the computers for a moment and resulted in a slight hitch.

When the screen turned back on she quickly scanned the enemy ships. After the readings confirmed that the Klingons’ shields were down a feral grin crossed her face. With a quiet growl she ordered “Fire everything we’ve got and then let’s go and rescue the crew of the Kobayashi Maru.”

“Jamie, the shields are still up”, Bones protested.

“No they’re not”, she responded grinning. Turning back to his console McCoy confirmed her statement.

“They’re not”, he repeated in puzzlement.

It took only seconds for the Klingon ships to explode in a fiery cloud of destruction. Jamie felt a vindictive glee at their end. This was better, so much better than the two previous times.

“Well, that’s that”, she said happily, clapping her hands together. Uhura glared more fiercely than before and Bones gave her a disapproving frown. She knew that the transition hadn’t been smooth and there would probably be questions and T’Peyra might be right after all, but for now she wanted to bathe in the feeling of victory, as long as she could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't get to include Spock yet after all, but never fear, we have reached the timeline of the movie. Spock is just around the corner and so is Nero.  
> I hope the little peek into Jamie's life and the dynamic between her and the girls and her inner musings are not too weird. :P  
> Oh and if you recognized any of the lines during the Kobayashi Maru, they were taken from a transcript of the actual scene. Some of the original lines will pop up here and there. I hope it doesn't bother you :) The timeline isn't entirely different after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it. As always I would appreciate a comment or two. The next chapter will be coming soon.


End file.
